Persona Five
by hitmanmonlee
Summary: Guy Smith was expecting a lot when he moved to Japan for a year in a student exchange program. But he certainly wasn't expecting to fight of demons and fight his way into Hell itself to stop the end of the world. My take on Persona 5.
1. Chapter 1

**Persona 5**

Hitmanmonlee

**Please enter your name:**

GUY SMITH

**Is Guy Smith OK?**

(**Yes**) (**No**)

Yes

**[A bumping sound awakes you]**

I tried to fight off consciousness by nudging myself closer into the cheap fabric of the airplane seat. Unfortunately, the seating beneath me had seamed to change to something a bit harder, and-

I was no longer in the airplane, as I discovered when I opened my eyes. I was in a dark room, bathed in dark blue light with a large stage and a few metal chars fixated around tables made of galvanized metal. What interested me the most, however, was the strange old man across from me.

The man had to be at lest 100 years old. He was in an old gray suit that did nothing to hide his bony figure. His heed was like a bowling ball, with cotton stuck to the sides and a nose that had to be a foot long. The man stared at me, with his old blood shot eyes. He griped his hand together.

"Welcome." He began. "To the Velvet Room, my dear young man. My name is Igor." The man gave a small laugh, like it was an inside joke that we had. "It is always nice to have a new guest with us, wouldn't you agree, Caroline?"

A young woman, who I swore wasn't there before, said, "Yes it is, Master Igor." The woman was in a blue dress, with large brass buttons. Her long hair reached halfway down her back, and her golden eyes stared at me. Her skin was impossibly white and smooth, almost like she was made of marble.

"This is Caroline, my assistant." Igor explained.

"Hello, Guy." Caroline said in a controlled voice. Igor chucked again.

"We are here to offer out services to you, my friend, whenever you need them." Igor said to me. "You ought to hold onto this." Igor sided something over to me in his clenched hand. I took it from him. It was a blue plastic key, with a slip of plastic attacked to it like a hotel key.

"We will soon meet again, Guy." Igor said. "But we should not keep you here to long. Your plain is due to land soon. Farwell."

The room disappeared as sudden as it came to be.

This time, I woke up for real in a jolt. What was that? I never had dreams that clear. I never met anyone named Igor or Caroline in my life. I had never been in a room like that.

I grimaced in pain as I shook out my body as best that I could. The awkward feeling of pins and needles left my body. Something was in my hand.

It was the key that Igor gave me. I held it up to my eyes. Sure enough, it was the same thing. It was real.

"We will be touching down to Tokyo, Japan, in twenty minutes." A voice said in both Japanese and English over the loud speaker. "I repeat, we will be touching down in Tokyo, Japan, in twenty minutes."

I put the strange dream - key in my pocket.

**[You waited for the plane to touch down.]**

After the long flight to DC to Tokyo, I was eager to stretch my legs. I think that I felt most of my bones pop in relief as I stretched out near the baggage loop. I watched for my bag, keeping track of how long a bag stayed on the belt before a hand from a steamily infinite army of people snatched it up.

"Excuse me!" I herd a voice. "Are you Guy Smith?" I turned around to see a Japanese businessman, with short back hair and gray eyes. A Japanese woman who had long black hair and brown eyes followed him.

"Yes." I say, looking up at them. The male held out his hand to shake.

"Hello, Smith. My name is Nori Noko, and this is my wife, Miki Noko. We're your exchange family." Nori said as I shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Nori and Miki." I said. "Thank you for taking me in for this program."

"It's no problem, Smith. Are you ready to go?" Miki asked. I spotted my bag and grasped it from the belt.

"I am." I said.

Nori and Miki drove you to your new home.

"So this is it." Nori said. Nori and Miki's house was small and generic Japanese home. I slipped off my shoes as soon as I came inside.

"It's nice." I said. Miki led me though all the rooms, telling me what they were used for.

"And here is your room. You should go to sleep now, you school starts tomorrow." Miki said. I thanked Miki and she left my room. I looked at the clock. 10:30.

Laying out some sheets on my futon, I drifted off into sleep.

**AN: Hoped you guys liked this chapter; the next few won't be as short as this one. I didn't want too much stuff happing in the first chapter, and I couldn't make this one any longer. Please Review, I can't get any better if I don't know what I did wrong. **


	2. Chapter 2

Persona 5

Hitmanmonlee

**Early Morning. **

I awoke with a start. Despite the fact that I was just in a deep sleep the last time I checked, I was now wide-awake. I blinked in confusion. Where was my phone?

I found my smartphone in my bag, and glared at it while it turned on. It was 5:30, April 5.

**Help:**

** Some days, you will wake up early at random, even if you did not decide to do so the night before. You will have extra time to study, make lunch, or even advance certain social links. **

I recall someone from the student exchange program telling me that school in Japan began at 8:00. What was I going to do for two and a half hours?

I decided to do the best thing that a stranger in Japan could do, and study my book of conman Japanese phrases. I felt more and more that I could express myself better after reading it. Before I knew it, it was 7:00, and I decided to go downstairs.

Strangely, nobody was up. I went about my normal business, finding some eggs from the kitchen fridge and making myself some eggs. I ate in silence.

**Morning.**

"All right class, today, we have a new student from the student exchange program." Ms. Nonomura said. I looked at the classroom, filled with student's that I didn't know.

"Hello everyone." I said in a clear voice. "My name is Guy Smith. I am a student exchange student from Berkley, West Virginia. I am looking forward to learning in Japan for one year with all of you."

Once proper introductions were in place, I sat down in an empty seat by the window. Suddenly, a student ran into the class room.

"_Shit _Sorry I'm late, Ms. Nonomura." The student said. The student has short blond hair and a young face. He was kind of stocky, even for his height. His school uniform was shabbily put on, as if he was in a rush.

"And you are?" Ms. Nonomura asked coldly.

"Mark Lightfoot, Ms. Nonomura." Mark said.

Ms. Nonomura looked over a speed sheet on her desk. "All right. Take a seat, I will excuse your tardiness this time. Please make an effort to arrive timely from now on."

Mark gave out a rush apology and sat by me.

**After school**

After classes had ended for the day, Mark came up to me.

"Hey, you're an exchange student too, right? So am I. I'm Mark." Mark said, putting out his hand to shake.

"I'm Guy." I said.

**Why were you late today?**

** What do you want?**

"Why were you late today?"

"Oh that?" Mark said. "I leave everything to the last minute. I work better that way." Mark smiled. "Hey, there's an arcade near here, want to go?"

Mark and I went to the arcade.

Arcades in Japan are far different than arcades in America. Berkley only had one arcade, and it was more like a pinball game in the super market. The Arcade was a huge building, filled with games.

"So, Guy." Mark said. "Where are you from?"

"I'm from Berkley springs, West Virginia." I say.

"Ah, Cool." Mark said. "I'm from Toronto. That's in Canada"

Mark and I played a few games before we went home.

**Night**

"Hey, I'm back." I said as I entered my exchange home. Miki smiled at me.

"Hey Guy. How was your day?"

After talking with Miki for a while and having some dinner, I went up to my room. Tired from my long day, I went to sleep.

**Late Night**

I woke up in the Velvet room again. Igor was sitting across from me with Caroline; just like he was the last time we met.

Igor said. "I apologue for our rushed introduction before. We all would like to welcome you formally to the Velvet room."

"Is this a dream?" I asked. Igor smiled.

"Somewhat. This room exists outside of the realm of your existence. It exist outside of time, therefor it is unaffected by it. It exists outside of matter; therefor it is not affected by it. It exists, but not in the way you think of things existing. Much like Persona. To answer your question: No, this is not a dream." Igor said.

"Persona?" I asked. Igor looked pleased.

"Ah? Have I spoken too much? Pardon me. Never mind what I just said, it was a fluke. I have summed you today to tell you of a vision that I had about you." Igor said. Igor waved his hands, and blue cards appeared on the table. "In order to test my prediction, please pick a card at random."

I picked out a card. I flipped it over. An image of a man about to walk over a cliff with a back slung over its head.

"Ah, the Fool. It is the Arcana innocence and creativity. Pick another one."

I picked another card. A cage with an eye in it.

"The Hermit, I see. This card stands for maturity and wisdom, and the strength to look at one's self. Please, pick another."

I did so, and I picked up a card. It was of two cats with huge collars with a box.

"Just as I expected, the Chariot. The Arcana of will, motivation, and the power to pursuit of one's goal. We are almost done, please continue."

I griped another card. This time, it was of a collection of swords, making a circle.

"Fortune! Very lucky of you to pick that card. The Fortune Arcana represents good luck, fortune, and happiness. Perhaps you too will experience these things. We are almost done, pick another."  
I did so, and this time, I was met with just the sun and a creepy face.

"The Sun Arcana. It represents happiness, opportunity, and bliss in one self. Pick a final card."

I did so. This time, it was of the moon. Igor smiled.

"The moon. How unexpected. The moon is the Arcana for selfishness, greed, and trickery. That is all I wanted to show you. Fell free to leave at any time. Till we meet again, farewell."


	3. Chapter 3

Persona Five

Hitmanmonlee

**After school. **

I got up from my seat as the final bell rang. Another day down. Today had been a good day. I had answered a few questions in class, and got some of them right.

"Hey, you free, Guy?" Mark asked me out in the hallway.

"Sure." I said. I got nothing better to do.

"There's a comic place that I heard about yesterday that's near my house. You into Manga?" Guy asked. I thought about it.

"Kinda. I've never read it but it looks cool." I said. I decided to hang out with Mark.

"So then my dad shot her, and it was weird." Mark finished the story that he was telling.

**You suddenly feel a strange presence.**

I stopped in my tracks, and looked around. I had stopped in front of a dark ally that was near Mark's house. Something felt off. Strange.

"What's the matter, Guy?" Mark asked. I nit my brows.

"Did you feel that?" I asked, looking into the alley.

"Feel what?" Mark asked. I looked deeper into the darkness. A thin rectangle of light was in the back of the alley.

**You feel compelled to look closer at the strange light. **

I walked down the alley. "Hey, what are you doing, Guy?" Mark said to me, but I ignored him. I walked deeper into the alley and soon came to a door. It was huge, at least nine feet tall. The wood was a charred black. The doorknob was a dull brass.

"Hey!...whoa." Mark said in awe when he caught up to me. "When did that get there?"

I reached my hand out to the knob, and grasped it firmly.

"Hey, I don't think that we should open it." Mark said. I ignored him and turned the knob.

**A blinding light engulfs you and Mark.**

As soon as I opened the door, I regretted it. I suddenly felt extreme pain for a second after the sensation of falling. I blinked stars after my eyes. The... other side of the door was so bright...

"What the..." Mark said. I tried to look around, finally being able to focus. I was on an island of dirt and grass, surrounded by a sky of white fluffy clouds with no sun. The door that I entered in floated a few meters up in the air. There were two other doors on the island, in the same style of the door that we entered.

"What the fuck is this!?" Mark yelled. I turned to see Mark pacing around, holding his head in his arms. He cocked his head to me. "How are we going to get out of here? We're going to die in here, Guy!"

**By golly you're right! I call jumping off first**

** Let's try some of the other doors.**

** So?**

"Let's try some of the other doors." I said.

Mark twisted the door handles of the left door. It didn't budge.

"Locked." Mark said. I tried the other door. It slid open like a well-oiled hinge. It was so black inside that it was hard to look into.

"What…" Mark said, squinting his eyes. "I can't see anything." Mark and I looked into the inky blackness.

**Go in **

** Don't go in.**

"Let's go in." I said.

"What? Are you crazy? We don't need to go in. What we need to do is get out of here." Mark said.

"The door that we came in is too high up. This is our only way out." I said. "It can't be that bad."

"Sure Guy, let's go into a random _black hole _that we found on a floating island behind a black door in japan. It's bad. We're going to die, Guy." Mark said.

"I'm going in." I said. "Common."

Before Mark could say anything, I stepped into the blackness. Nothingness.

I found myself face down on a slab of slate. I got on my feet. I was in a slate hallway, just barely tall enough for me, and small torches lighted it. Mark has followed me though, and he was getting up. He had to bend down a little bit to move.

"Guy-" Mark turned to me, and stopped. I turned around, to see that there was no door, only a dead end of gray slate. I looked above. No trapdoor. The door that we had used to get into here had simply vanished.

"We're trapped." Mark said. His face shone with fear.

"Let's go on." I said. Mark nodded his head.

Mark and I walked down the slate hallway. The torches kept the place lit, but they casted flicking shadows over everything. We came to a turn. Another turn.

We had been walking for about ten minutes in silence when Mark stopped walking.

"Hey, I want to try something out." Mark said. Mark felt over for one of the many wall torches. He grasped it in his hand. He strained himself, but the torch stay put.

Mark held out his hand. "Let's see if this is a dream."

Suddenly, a voice laughed. It was light and soft, like ringing bells. Mark looked at me.

"Hear that?" He asked.

"The laughing?" I asked. Mark nodded.

"So this is probably a dream. Here it goes." Mark said, and crushed the fire with his right fist.

So it wasn't a dream, because Mark pulled out his hand in a fraction of a second, cursing in pain.

"Fuck owowowow." Mark began to shake his hand violently. "Shit."

"Let's keep on going." I said, trying to make myself forget about the phantom laughter.

Mark and I walked for a little while longer, taking more and more turns as we went deeper into… what ever this place was. Mark had his burnt hand clutched the whole time, shaking it out once in a while.

I didn't have any kind of watch, and my phone has suddenly stopped working, so the time kind of blurred together. We did, however, come to a large, stone room. It wasn't empty.

The man in the center of the room was an adult, and in a black suit. His face was covered with a thin white mask, made out of wings of a butterfly. He was reclining in the air, bobbing up and down a little bit. Strangely, he seamed to glow a little bit, enough to light the room better than the torches. "Welcome, Heroes." The man said with a powerful voice that seamed to fill the room like a loud speaker.

Mark pointed to the man. "Who the hell are you?" The man chucked.

"Is that rely the question that you should ask in this place? Who am I? Who are you is the better question. I am Philemon, the watcher. Who are you?" Philemon asked Mark.

"I am Markus Lightfoot, and this is Guy Smith. What is going on? What is this place?" Mark demanded. Philemon closed his eyes.

"Markus, I can not answer your question. It is up to you what you make of this place, and what is happing to you right now. Instead, I can tell you what is to come in this place." Philemon said. "Would you like to know that?"

"What's with all the question bullshit? I didn't ask any other questions!" Mark said. "If you can't answer my question, don't waste my time!"

"So you do not want to know what will happen to you? I understand. Ignorance is bliss, after all. It is wise of you to understand that at such a young age. What about your friend here, what does he think?" Philemon asked. He turned to me. "What do you want to know-" Philemon's face contorted into a grin. He burst out laughing, and I'm sure that he shook the room with his laughter. He twisted around in the air, clutching his sides. "HaHa! Oh! What! I've never seen anything like this before!"

"What's so funny, dipshit!"? Mark yelled. Philemon tied to stop, but he was overtaken by another episode of laughter.

"It's just… I've never seen anyone so **boring **before! It's truly a blessing to see someone so **uninteresting **and **plain**. Guy Smith, I see no corruption in you what-so-ever! None! Your soul is totally uncorrupted." Philemon said. "How do you live? Do you just not mind having no personality, and being a blank slate? How do you answer your mother when she asks "What do want for lunch, Guy?" or when your friends ask "What's the matter, Guy?" I see nothing in you! Nothing! I-I-I just never seen anyone like you before!" Philemon shook with laughter. "I like you. I like you very, very much, Guy Smith. Your soul is uncorrupted, but yet you have no Persona."

"Persona." I said to myself. Philemon smiled.

"Yes, Persona. You have come here with none. Your soul, while small and week, is complete and full. You simply cannot develop a persona. That is why I will give you one." Philemon said.

"Give Guy what?" Mark asked.

"I will give him a Persona, the hallmark of a complete person. You are a fool, Guy Smith, for coming here, but you are also brave. Two good traits to have, but spell disaster if they are together. I recall that it was you who fist came into the Fool's Labyrinth, to find a way so escape this place." Philemon clapped his hands together.

We stood in silence. "What?" Mark asked.

"I gave Guy a Persona." Philemon said.

"Well, what does it do?" Mark asked. As soon as he said this, a low, gluteal groan filled the room.

"Ah! This normally happens in here. Shadows smell an empty soul here, and they want to join it." Philemon said. "Try not to let that happen."

Suddenly, I was nocked back to the ground. I got up, to see two… things near me. They were ugly, red beings that looked like a deed spider made of red bones. They were toped with red sculls with many eye sockets and jaw bones. The constantly moved around on there many legs, like they would fall apart if they stopped moving.

"Since this is your first contact with shadows." Philemon said in my mind. "I will walk you though it. Like I said, A Persona is part of your soul. It's thoughts are yours too. You will find that summing a Persona is as easy as blinking. However, it will require a great deal of concentration. Try associating it with a movement or a battle cry when you summon it."

_All right_ I thought _Persona. I have Theseus. _I was sure of it, it came as easily as remembering what my name was. I also knew that only knew Garu, a wind spell.

I dropped down into a wide stance, and thrusting my first out. "Come on!" I yelled, the first thing that came to my mind. I was greeted with a cool sound of breaking glass. Materializing in front of me like a cheesy power point transition was a huge man in Greek battle armor. His armor was made of steel and black rock, and his clothes underneath were made out of a bleached fabric. His face was made of riveted metal, and his black hair was steel wool. He unleashed a huge sword that was bigger than him and was made out of a green metal. He lunged forward and sliced the air with a swing of his sword. A tall funnel of hot green air collected on the Bonny Spider and climaxed with a gust of hot air. The shadow leered back in pain, and didn't get back up.

"Amazing! Like people, all shadows have weakness to certain things. When you hit a shadow's weakness, it falls over and needs time to get up. When this happens, you get another turn. Of course, the same thing is true for you, if you get hit with your weakness, you will fall down and the shadow will get an extra turn." Philemon explained.

I turned my attention to the other shadow, which looked at me with its back holes.

"I summon thee, Theseus!" I called out as I took the stance again, summing another Garu spell from the Persona. Just like before, the shadow was nocked down.

"Another point of advice." Philemon buzzed in. "If all shadows are nocked down, and you have another person with you, you can preform an all-out-attack. You cannot do that now, however. Please continue."

I summoned Theseus again, and killed off the first shadow. I turned to see the second shadow get back up on it's bones. It advanced towards me, and slashed out. It was as harmful as a little kid slapping me on my legs.

"Common out Theseus!" I called out, summing the Persona. With a final slash of wind, the second shadow was out, and dissolved into darkness.

"Holly shit, that was cool." Mark said. "That thing was huge!"

"That was a Persona in action, Markus." Philemon said. "Does that answer your question?"

"No." Mark said, deflecting his attention to Philemon. "How do we get out of here?"

Philemon laughed. "I can't blame you. This all must be very sudden for you. You see that door." I turned to see a door in the wall, just like the one we had entered in. "That will take you out. This will hopefully be out final meeting, so I bid you farewell." Before I could say anything, the masked being vanished like my Persona.

"Well, let's go." Mark said, and opened the door. I ran into the sunlight of the island again. The door that we came out of was the same as the one we went in.

"Hey, look at this!" Mark said. There was another door now, a white one. Mark opened it up. The sounds of the Kichijoji neighborhood leaked out of it.

Mark slammed the door. He looked at me.

"So, what was that?" Mark said. I shook my head.

"Well… Whatever it was, we are going back there. We can't just leave it." Mark declared.

"You're right." I said.

"We need a badass name, though." Mark said. He was rely getting into it. "Like… The Shadow Land Exploration Team!"

"All right." I said, not wanting to disagree with him at this time. "We'll be the Shadow Land Exploration Team."

**A voice rings in your head.**

** I am thou… And though art thy… Thy understands the Shadow Land Exploration Team's struggle with corruption deeper. Thou can now delve deeper into the Fool's Labyrinth. **

**A/N: Hey readers, thanks for all your reviews so far! This is my longest chapter yet, so expect chapters to be like this once more stuff starts to happen. Please leave your thoughts if you want, I'll review your stories too. **


	4. Chapter 4

Persona 5

Hitmanmonlee

I thought about what had happened a few days as I sat at my desk before my first class began. After we exited the Shadow World, Mark and I parted ways, not knowing what else to do. I wanted to think that it was all a dream, but the small presence of Theseus in my mind kept me from that. Theseus mostly kept quiet, occasionally giving advice like _Man, this is boring. Got any beasts to kill?_ Or when a girl walked by _Man, I would leave her on an island!_ Mark and I talked little, both of us trying to make sense of what happened. School was all right, I did well. I learned that the school I went to was Auzbu High School, now that I could pronounce it. Overall, my first week in Japan was okay.

I daydreamed as Ms. Nonomura called roll. What was in the Shadow World? And what was up with Igor? I hadn't seen the Long Nose man since the dream on the plane. Mark was right, I couldn't give up on this, not when I had so many unanswered questions.

* * *

** Lunch Time**

* * *

I was walking down the hallway to the cafeteria when Mark stopped me.

"What's up Guy?" Mark said to me. "Got a minute?"

"Sure." I said.

"You want to explore the Shadow World some more? I found out about this place the other day where we can get armed." Mark said. "It's real cheap too. We can't go into the Shadow World unarmed. What if your Persona fails?"

Mark was right. I was so tired the other day, like my mana had been drained in an RPG. "Your right." I said. "I'm in."

"Cooleo. See you then, Bro." Mark said.

* * *

**(After School)**

* * *

"So this is the place." Mark said as we walked into the shack. Mark had led me back to a shopping center near his house, and behind the largest department store. It was a makeshift house, made out of discarded sheets of metal and faded plastic. Old wood cabinets were everywhere, along with a small fire in the center, framed with chipped red bricks.

"Hey, What's up, Shin!" Mark said. An older man roused from a stool that I couldn't even tell apart from the house. "This is Guy Smith, my friend that I told you about. He's interested in your wares."

"Hello Smith." The old man said. His gray hair and thick beard hid most of his wrinkled face. His only cloth was a pair of denim overalls, mended in spots by discarded fabric. I shook the old man's hand, and it felt more like a glove than part of a living thing.

"So, got anything new, Shin!" Mark asked. Shin nodded and unrolled a brown tarp for us, and items dropped out. On closer inspection, they were weapons. Small axes made out of plastic and metal, crossbows made out of branches from the foliage outside and rubber bands, and…

"Is this a sword?" I asked, pointing at a sharp metal rod.

Shun grunted. "It's a work in progress. It packed a punch for sure, though." Shin handed me the sword. The hilt was wrapped in cheap leather, and the blade was hammered copper.

"It's 200 yen." Shin said. "However, if you are willing to barter..."

"I'll take it." I said, handing the rough amount to Shin.

"Hey Guy, look at this." Mark said, picking up an Ax. The Ax was large, with a long yellow handle and a small stub of iron for a cutting blade. He gave it a few pratice swings. Mark turned to Shin "How much is this?"

"500" Shin said. Mark examined the ax.

"All right." He said, and bought the ax from Shin.

"Thanks' a bunch Shin. You got the case I saw the other day, too?" Mark asked. Shin grunted and got out from under a pile of tattered moving blankets what looked like a large trombone case. "I'll take that too." Mark handed over some more cash.

"Thanks Shin!" Mark said as we walked out. Mark turned to me.

"So, we can keep our weapons in this." Mark said, giving a pat to the Trombone case. "Cool, eh. Come on, we're wasting time."

* * *

**(Shadow World)**

* * *

After landing on out feat in the Shadow World from the back door, we found that the mysterious island was just like how we left it, hot and vacant. Except, for a new door.

"Holly shit." Mark said, walking over to the door. "This is new." I looked at the new door. It was a just like the other two doors, but it was painted a light blue, like the sky above it. Mark put the trombone case down and got out his weapon, the yellow ax. I did the same, getting out my sword. I didn't exactly know how to handle a sword, but it can't be more complicated than just swigging it. Plus, those bonny spiders that I fought looked like they would fall apart at any second, much less survive a swing from a rod of metal.

"Well, reddy for this?" Mark said grasping the door. "Let's explore-" Mark opened the door, and fell in like it was a vacuum. The door slammed shut with a loud, empty sound, leaving me alone.

"Mark!" yelled, and I ripped open the door. Like the Fool's Labyrinth, I could only see a black void, but that wasn't going to stop me. I jumped into the void, going after Mark to save him.

* * *

**Captain Chariot**

Like Fool's Labyrinth, I woke up with no sign of the door that I entered in. I also almost threw up. I was standing on a long walkway made out of dark blue metal at night. The walkaway floated in the air, and just being at night, looking into the save void that I jumped into to get here, made it terrifying. I forced myself to look up. Ultramodern towers of blue metal dotted the landscape, connected by blue metal walkways. What caught my attention the most was the black dollops of shadow that littered the walkway.

I gripped my sword. Shadows, that's what Philemon had called them. What had I gotten myself into? Another bout of nausea hit me. I might die here. I might never go home.

I forced advanced down the walkway, towards one of the many shadows. It raced towards me, like a giant wheel. I stuck out my sword to meet it.

The shadow materialized into the bonny spiders like in Fool's Labyrinth. They went down in a flurry of Garu skills from Theseus. I moved on the path, and took a left turn at a fork. Soon, I got to the entrance to a tower. The door opened on its own.

The inside of the tower was even colder than the outside, I would swere that I was in a fridge. There was an annoying buzz in back my mind, like a song stuck in my head.

_ zzzzz Never zzzzz ._I realized that it was Mark's voice.

"Mark!" I called. Nothing but the phony echo like you get in parking garages.

The tower was made up of green metal hallways arranged in a grid, that somehow stayed lit without any kind of light source that I could see. I walked slowly down the hallway. It was empty of any shadows, unlike the outside.

I came to a junction, and stopped to look around. The same hallways surrounded me. Even though I only traveled in a straight line, I was totally lost.

_zzzzz Trapped. zzzzz_ Mark's voice said.

"Mark!" I yelled out in desperation. "Where are you!"

_zzzzz Go away, Guy. zzzzzz Better to leave now and just lower your expectations zzzzz_ Mark's voice was getting clearer. _zz GET OUT OF HERE. Zz _Mark's voice suddenly cut off.

I continued to walk down the hallway. Eventually, I came to a large brass door.

_zzzz Why don't you get someone else to do this, Guy? You are too weeeeeeeeee_ Mark's voice skipped like a scratched record. _EEEK _The voice went dead like a hung up phone. I looked a the door

**Enter the door?**

* * *

I entered the door. I was in a large room made of riveted metal, with... something in the center. It was Mark... sort of. Mark was older, about college age, and he had taught yellow skin and thin black hair. He was only in faded denim jeans and his shirt was gone. His muscles were huge, but they jumped around under his skin. What shocked me most was the huge robot above him, dark red, built into the ceiling. It's robotic arms pumped a sickly orange slime into Mark with huge hyperemic needles. It glared at me with its Ant face, and bit it's mandibles at me.

"Mark?" I asked.

"YES! This is Mark!" Mark yelled, his voice high and loud and shrill.

"What the fuck?" I said, confused.

"What! You don't like my new form!" Mark made a guttal cry of frustration. "WHY! I am BETTER than old Mark! When had Mark ever been like-OHHHHH!" The robot pumped more orange slime into him and hissed. "Shit! Oh God that was good. Yes! I am Mark! We are one of the same now!"

"No, you aren't Mark." I declared. Mark laughed.

"No! That is not true!" Mark inflicted his speech with his arms. "Mark is I am better Mark! Mark has been consumed by me, I have grown!"

"Leave Mark alone!" I ordered to this strange parasite "Or-"

"Or what?" Mark yelled. "You'll kill me! I am Mark, you kill me, and you kill Mark! I am Mark!"

"You're a shadow!" I yelled. "Leave Mark alone!"

"Oh! You won't back down! I can stay here forever, you know! I can have my cake and eat it to! Prepare to DIE!

*()*()*

"I am the Corruption of the Soul" Corrupted Mark yelled. "And I will always be better than you. It is a fact of life; there is always someone better than you, holding you back from greatness. I am that someone, Guy Smith, I will hold Mark back forever!"

Corrupted Mark shook. The robot leaching off his back waved it's hands. "Let get ready to tumble!" The robot pumped more orange slime into him. Mark Powered up.

_Shit_ I though. I had never fought something like this. Could I kill it? Was it Mark? I didn't know much, but I knew that I had to kill it.

"Theseus!" I called out, summing the Persona. With a swish of his sword, he cast Tarukaja on myself, a new skill that I had just learned.

Corrupted Mark dropped to his knees and beat the ground with his hands, blasting me with a strong gust of green wind. I braced myself, and endured the hit.

"Pump in" Corrupted Mark yelled, raising it's hand "AND POWER UP!" and he swatted his hand at me. I was hit by what felt like a stonewall. I fell to my knees in agony. A critical hit.

"Reddy for an ass whoopen?" Corrupted Mark yelled, summing a gust of wind again, blowing me back up to my feet.

I rushed Corrupted Mark, slashing him with my sword. It did a pitiful amount of damage.

"You think that you can stop me!? It's useless!" Corrupted Mark yelled, raising its hand and using Far from Grace.

I started at the monster. I felt half dead, and I only hit it once. How was I going to kill it?

_Hello Guy._ A light voice said in my head. _Using your Persona well, I assume?_

"What are you?" I yelled out in desperation.

_Why, I'm insulted that you don't remember me, Guy. I am Philemon, if you recall, I gave you your Persona. I have decided to assist you in your time of need again, only motivated from the bottom of my heart._

I cast Garu on Corrupted Mark, trying to get some damage in on it. "Then get on with it, Philemon!" I yelled.

_Done!_ Philemon said. _My hypothesis was correct. You rely do have an empty soul, fit to be holding many masks, and many Persona_.

**You can now summon more than one Persona!**

I racked my mind as I dodged a wind attack from Corrupted Mark. I had Theses, and... Bellerophon. I remember now, I have Bellerophon. He had... Garu and Dia. Thanks Phil. I closed my eyes, and focused on Bellerophon.

** With Bellerophon and Theseus's power, you can preform Thunder Summon!**

I braced myself. I can do this. I called out Bellerophon like I was summing him, but I also called out to Theausus, hoping that it might work correctly. I closed my eyes, and my feet felt wet. I opened them up.

The room filled up to my knees with seawater. Rain crashed down, and a huge white thunderbolt stuck Corrupted Mark. It yelled out in pain and jolted to the floor, taking out a huge amount of it's HP, leaving it open to another attack.

"Dia." I stated, summing Bellerophon, the Spear Using Hero on the flying horse. I instantly felt better, more excited, and reedier.

"Beginner's Luck." Corrupted Mark growled, getting up. I smiled.

"Thunder Summon!" I called out, casting out the two heroes. Water, Rain, Thundershock. Corrupted Mark screamed in agony again. It held on with only a sliver of life.

"Time for you to die!" I said, slicing into Corrupted Mark with my sword. He dissolved into darkness.

*()*()*

Corrupted Mark struggled under the weight of the robot. "How! How! What-What the fuck Why! How could I be defeated!" Corrupted Mark fell to his knees. "UGH! I cannot be defeated! I will always be with Mark! I am-"

The robot started to leek smoke. A panel popped open above it's head. Mark fell out of the panel. The robot fell apart, leaving only older, buff Corrupted Mark.

I helped Mark up. He looks beat up. His nose dripped blood, and his student uniform was ripped.

Mark looked at Corrupted Mark. Corrupted Mark gazed back.

"I am a part of you, Markus Lightfoot." Corrupted Mark said in a slow voice. "You are corrupt with the futility of success. You know, in the deepest part of you, that there is always someone better than you, and that the better person is the more desirable person."

"Bull-"

"Don't deny me, Mark. If you deny me, I will always come back, and you will live in the cycle of denial, ignorance, hatred and acceptance. Do you rely want that?" Corrupted Mark asked. "Most people don't want that, but they aren't strong enough to face there corruption. Be strong, Markus, and break the cycle so you can get stronger."

Mark looked at his feat.

After a long time, Mark said: "You're right. I'm not as strong as I think that I am."

Corrupted Mark smiled, and shattered into a million shards of blue. From the blue smoke rose a giant red tailed Eagle, with butts making up most of it's blue body and wings made of razor sharp gold feathers.

**Mark has accepted his corruption! Corrupted Mark has elevated to Rok, the warlike sky-bird of the Chariot Arcana. Mark has achieved a Persona, the Hallmark of a complete person!**

Rok vanished, and Mark fell to the ground. "Thanks' Guy" He said, passing out.

I heard a voice in my mind:

**I art Thou, and Thou art I. Thou understates Markus Lightfoot moor than before. Thou shall be blessed to delve deeper into Captain Chariot.**


End file.
